Editing Mastaba (section)

==Structure==
[[File:Mastaba schematics.svg|right|thumb|Structure of a mastaba]]
The term ''mastaba'' comes from the [[Arabic]] word for "a bench of mud".<ref>{{cite book |author-link=Alan Gardiner |last=Gardiner |first=A. |year=1964 |title=Egypt of the Pharahos |page=57 n7 |location=New York |publisher=Oxford University Press }}</ref> When seen from a distance, a flat-topped mastaba does resemble a bench. Historians speculate that the Egyptians may have borrowed architectural ideas from Mesopotamia, since at the time they were both building similar structures.<ref>{{cite web|last=Gascone|first=Bamber|title=History of architecture|url=http://www.historyworld.net/wrldhis/PlainTextHistories.asp?ParagraphID=arb|publisher=History of the world|access-date=29 May 2011}}</ref>

The above-ground structure of a mastaba is rectangular in shape with inward-sloping sides and a flat roof. The exterior building materials were initially bricks made of the sun-dried mud readily available from the Nile River. Even after more durable materials such as stone came into use, the majority were built from [[mudbrick]]s.<ref>{{cite journal |last=R. |first=C. L. |title=A Model of the Mastaba-Tomb of Userkaf-Ankh |journal=Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin |volume=8 |year=1913 |issue=6 |pages=125–130 |jstor=3252928 |doi=10.2307/3252928 }}</ref> Monumental mastabas, such as those at [[Saqqara]], were often constructed out of limestone.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Cooke |first=Ashley |title=The Architecture of Mastaba Tombs in the unas Cemetery |date=2020 |publisher=Sidestone Press |isbn=9789088908965 |language=en}}</ref> Mastabas were often about four times as long as they were wide, and many rose to at least {{convert|30|ft|-1|disp=flip}} in height. They were oriented north–south, which the Egyptians believed was essential for access to the afterlife. The roofs of the mastabas were of slatted wood or slabs of limestone, with skylights illuminating the tomb.<ref name=":1" /> The above-ground structure had space for a small offering chapel equipped with a [[False door#Ancient Egypt|false door]]. Priests and family members brought food and other offerings for the soul, or ''[[Ba (Egyptian soul)|ba]]'', of the deceased, which had to be maintained in order to continue to exist in the [[afterlife]]. The construction of mastabas was standardized, with several treatments being common for masonry.<ref name=":1" />

Mastabas were highly decorated, both with paintings on the walls and ceilings, and carvings of organic elements such as palm trees out of limestone. Due to the spiritual significance of the color, it was preferable to construct mastabas from white limestone. If this was not available, the yellow limestone or mudbrick of the tomb would be whitewashed and plastered.<ref name=":1" /> Mastabas for royalty were especially extravagant on the exterior, meant to resemble a palace.<ref name=":0" />